• mittens [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    if they were concerned about fairness in sports, they would be pushing for categories based on measurable metrics like height or weight, instead of gender, which if you think about it, doesn't make that much sense to begin with.

    • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]
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      4 years ago

      I'll take ya one step further.

      If testosterone is a performance-enhancing drug, ALL athletes should be on T-blockers to ensure fair competition.

      • kristina [she/her]
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        4 years ago

        femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football femboy football

      • Nagarjuna [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Or, more realistically, every athlete should be taking testosterone, considering 40% of them already are

        • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]
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          4 years ago

          That just involves a testosterone arms race.

          Better to mandate the level to 0 or near-zero.

    • Amorphous [any]
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      4 years ago

      that's a really simple, elegant solution ive never considered before

      we should really be doing that. it's so obvious, it's already done in fighting sports. what the hell are humans thinking, buncha dumb fucking monkeys i tell you what

      • kilternkafuffle [any]
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        4 years ago

        Weight classes exist in martial arts, boxing, and weight lifting, yeah. But men and women also differ by muscle mass as a percentage of total mass. Testosterone (whether endogenous or exogenous) during development and in general means more muscle, less fat. In other words, on average, men will still be significantly stronger than women in the same weight class.

        Hypothetically, you could design some complex system controlling for hormones, muscle percentage, and total mass as a replacement for mere sex/gender... but that's overmedicalization. Professional sports are overmedicalized already, with tests for doping and the athletes taking every kind of supplement and drug that's not yet banned... but you're not gonna subject every kid in school to a series of blood tests. That'd be its own kind of fucked up.

        I think whatever division exists in sports for most people should be based on social distinctions, not biological ones. Let trans women compete with cis women - trans people are under 1% of the population anyway. Let enbies be with whoever they want. Society shouldn't be segregated by gender, but locker rooms and certain medical practices are - people are more comfortable with their own gender sometimes. It's an exceptional circumstance, not total segregation.

    • cracksmoke2020 [none/use name]
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      4 years ago

      Unless you're measuring people by say, every single measurement required to properly size a suit (hips, shoulders, ect) alongside things like muscle mass and weight then it's still difficult to properly group people.

      At least all of the above is very relevant in sports like swimming, running, ect, although it would certainly make the sports more interesting with deeper classifications like this. A lot of people quit these sports because they don't have the right build.

    • SimMs [none/use name]
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      4 years ago

      arent skeletal properties largely determined by sex? skeletal features is hugely important in determining performance potential.

      • unperson [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Then measure those skeletal features instead of making drama over DNA.

        • SimMs [none/use name]
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          4 years ago

          "100m sprint, class leg bone 50-60 cm" i dont know man. sure the trans-inclusive paradigm will reshape alot of this kind of stuff, but.. cmon

      • mittens [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        don't quote me on this, gender skeletal difference are due to bone modelling during adolescence, it's not determined at birth IIRC, It is unkown to me how much remodelling is done during normal adulthood, nor during transition, certainly skeletal changes happen when someone transitions, you may have noticed this yourself, but whether this represents a significant advantage at sports or not is something that you may want to ask a real doctor and not me. i'm too busy making shit up at work to make shit up here.

      • InnuendOwO [she/her]
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        4 years ago

        On average, sure. Professional sports don't give a shit about averages. Just look at basketball players all being like, 7 feet tall.

          • InnuendOwO [she/her]
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            4 years ago

            Okay?

            Like, I don't get the point here. Professional sports are always going to be dominated by people who's bodies are extremely outside of the norm. Sports are like, 80% practice, 20% genetic lottery, and no matter what you do you can't really change that last 20%.

            Seems extremely weird to me to go "this is fair, she's a foot taller than me, so she'll always be better at basketball than me, that's fine :)" but then immediately turn around and go "this isn't fair, she's a foot taller than me and also trans, so she'll always be better at basketball than me, that's not fine :("